At 32, She Faced Rare Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: ‘My Story can Help a Lot of People’

Jessica Duemig knew something was wrong when she felt a stabbing pain in her breast one morning and found a small lump. Alarmed when it began to grow rapidly, Jessica had it checked out and was diagnosed with rare triple-negative metaplastic breast cancer.
Thanks to catching it early, Jessica was able to have aggressive treatment and now, three years later, is cancer free. Now she's sharing her cancer journey with other cancer patients in a new book called "Warrior".
Hear from Jessica and her breast cancer surgeon, Dr. Starr Mautner of Miami Cancer Institute, in this story of strength and survivorship.
[Transcript]
(soft piano music)

[Jessica Duemig, Breast Cancer Survivor]

[Jessica] When I was 32, I woke up one morning to a stabbing pain in my left breast. When I first felt the lump, it was maybe about the size of a pencil eraser. But then within a month it had grown the size of a gumball, like the big gumballs. I decided to have it checked out and thankfully I did. I was officially diagnosed with stage two A triple negative metaplastic breast cancer, which makes up only about one percent of all breast cancers out there.

[Starr Mautner, M.D. Breast Surgeon, Miami Cancer Institute]

[Dr. Mautner] With any patient presenting with breast cancer, we're always going for cure. That is our goal. This was still considered early stage cancer, although it was aggressive and needed to be treated aggressively. And I told her that we were going to do everything within our power to cure this cancer.

[Jessica] I would have a bilateral mastectomy with partial reconstruction during surgery, followed by eight rounds of chemo. And then finally reconstruction with implants.
I started the live videos in the Facebook group as an information hub. I did it every day of chemo and I just kind of kept people in the loop.

[Home video of Jessica having her head shaved in the Boutique at Miami Cancer Institute as she talks to the camera about her experience]

[Jessica] "We’re shaving my head and you're gonna see it live."

[Jessica] I never at any point in time considered the alternative to surviving and ultimately thriving. As of right now, June 27, is my last chemo.

[Fade to black]
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(upbeat music begins)
[Photo of Jessica with balloons smiling in front of Miami Cancer Institute after her last chemo session]

[Jessica} I was officially cured in February of 2020, which was so exciting for me.

[Dr. Mautner] It's extremely rewarding to see a woman like Jessica diagnosed at the age of 32 come back three years later and be living her life to the fullest and be considered cured of her disease. I know that we truly helped her. Most women under the age of 40 are not undergoing annual screening mammograms yet and for these women, my message would be: know your own body and if you do detect a mass that you can feel in the breast, do not ignore it.

[Cover of Jessica’s book titled “Warrior: Challenge Accepted”]

[Jessica] “Warrior” was published in late August, this year. Now I really think that my story can help a lot of people, not only in the early detection conversation, but also in just the general attitudes toward breast cancer. It's not a death sentence anymore.

[Photos of Jessica during treatment with shaved head and in the present with shoulder length hair]

[Jessica] I really learned through this that attitude is everything. If you tell yourself you can do it, then you can do anything you put your mind to.

[Baptist Health logo]
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[End of transcript]

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